In 2021, Ottawa traded forward Evgeni Dadonov to Vegas, but failed to inform the Knights that Dadonov’s contract contained a ten-team, no-trade clause within it. As a result, Vegas’s attempted trade of Dadonov to Anaheim in 2022 was voided. The NHL responded by imposing penalties upon the Senators, namely the forfeiture of its first-round pick in one of the years 2024, 2025, or 2026. The penalty was set to be imposed in this summer’s draft.
The league modified that sanction today. As opposed to Ottawa forfeiting its first-round pick this year, the NHL instead reallocated that pick. The Sens’ first selection will be the 32nd pick in the opening round. All other teams who normally would have been slotted behind the Senators in the first round will each be assigned draft selections which are one position better than where they would have otherwise selected. Also, although Ottawa will participate in the draft lottery should they miss the playoffs, they are not permitted to win either of the roll-offs. If the number combination assigned to Ottawa is selected in either of the two lottery draws, the results are invalid, and a re-draw yielding new results will ensue. This ensures that the odds of all other non-playoff teams to win the lottery are enhanced equally.
The $1 million fine imposed upon the Senators as a result of this incident remains intact, and will be allocated to the NHL Foundation Canada (which promotes access to hockey throughout Canada).